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93 Or 87 Octane - Gas Mileage - Power?

fujifilmnut

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fujifilmnut Enthusiast

fujifilmnut

Posted
Posted

For the first tank in the Vortec Max I used 93 octane BP. In my Avalanche 5.3 I have tried 87 octane and do not think I detect much difference in gas mileage. Seems like it winds up quicker on 93 octane however.

 

Has anyone tried 87 vs 93 for gas mileage?

hotwheels57 Enthusiast

hotwheels57

Posted
Posted

You truck was engineered to run on 87 octane. Running a higher octane will not give you any benefit unless you've done significant motor/computer changes to timing and fuel curves that require higher octane.

These are fuel injected/computer controlled vehicles not carburetors. You're wasting money on more expensive premium fuel that won't improve anything but profits for the oil/gasoline company. You might actually decrease fuel economy and horsepower/torque with the wrong octane fuel.

Research when higher octane fuels are required and how differently they burn. You'd be better off buying an occasional bottle of TECHRON to run through your fuel system, depending on your normal choice of fuel source.

HawkScot Enthusiast

HawkScot

Posted
Posted

Age old debate. Buy a tuner to take advantage of the higher octane if you want to spend the money. Factory tune runs fine on the octane it calls for usually (unless something is wrong with system). Oil companies already have excess profits so keep your money.

MotoMedic Senior Enthusiast

MotoMedic

Posted
Posted
Seems like it winds up quicker

 

that 'feeling' you have is called the Butt-Dyno and it's terribly unreliable!!!

C & A s Dad Senior Enthusiast

C & A s Dad

Posted
Posted

If you will keep very accurate records of you MPG with 87 for about 10 tanks, switch to 93 and run at least 2 tanks before you begin tracking it and then record your MPG for 10 tanks as you did with the 87, you will likely see a very slight MPG increase. Mine was approx 1/2 MPG. I use it in my 02 Yuk because I tow a 6500 lb camper on occasion and never know when this will be. When I am towing under normal conditions, I really can tell no difference, however in hillls or under a hard pull, the 93 does help my 5.3.

 

As said earlier, there are opinions all over the board on this with many claiming no change at all and others saying they have seen up to 2 MPG increases.

 

If your truck is a daily driver and you are not working it under load as I do when towing, I would say the 87 will serve you well.

 

You can search this topic here on the forum and find out why many believe our engines do perform better on the higher octane fuel.

svensk Senior Enthusiast

svensk

Posted
Posted

The 5.3's compression ratio 9:1 so theoretically a higher octane would help you out, but GM tuned the PCM to accept 87 octane without losing normal performance. I've done the tank to tank test and 93 does help me out a bit during the blazing hot summer months when you might see some spark retard from 87. The biggest thing with 92/93 premium gas is that the companies put their best/most additives into it allowing your engine to run a bit cleaner depending the brand.

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